Rain-cloud street art by Kirra, a member of Partizaning Collective
Sometimes, on bleak and dreary days, something simple like meeting a collective of Russian Artists/Activists, can make a foreign land seem much more friendly. On Sunday, Wayne was feeling so sick we forfeit a day of CLOUD Factory labours in favour of napping. Midday, however, we were invited to meet up with some friends of the Arbour Lake Sghool Collective (our pals in Calgary) Shriya and MAKE, artists belonging to the Muscovite art collective Partizaning. The group, which works with “participatory urban re-planning” is a team of street artists and activists, playing with the fabric of what makes Moscow Moscow. They observe urban spaces and neighbourhoods, posing questions and collecting thoughts. Shriya invited us to their present exhibition in a basement gallery space called Vodtochnaya Gallery. The show is Partizaning’s first real attempt at a formalized compilation of their work, and it was an amazing way of learning about the collective. The Partizaning website is another great way. Wayne and I had the pleasure of meeting almost the entire collective and sitting through an Artist Lecture – entirely in Russian! (Although MAKE did his best to translate as the talk progressed…)
The above image of a rain-cloud is by a member of Partizaning. We found it on a wall while wandering around the city with Shriya, in search of Georgian food.
Cloud Factory, Moscow
